Few meters into the premises of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Orientation Camp in Maiduguri on Tuesday sat a young woman of about 25, dejectedly with three kids, feeding them with bread and Sobo, a locally made drink. She looked haggard, later revealing she had no idea about the whereabouts of her husband, the father of the children that clutched at her. Further into the area, it was time for breakfast and all the internally displaced people (IDPs) at the camp, including men, women and children of all ages were eating, sitting under trees, inside dormitories or at the expansive platform facing the parade ground at the camp. The young mother is among the multitude of people who lost their bearings after the latest terror attacks in Bama, the second-largest town in Borno State which is now under the firm grip of Boko Haram members. Some of them are from Damboa and villages in Konduga local government areas. It was evident that the young woman was psychologically traumatized because she could not even give her name when Weekly Trust asked. That notwithstanding, she jealously guarded her children, aged between 2 and 6. Baba Sheriff, a boy of about 9, fell into a river while fleeing the deadly attack on Bama of Monday, 1st September. He became an orphan after losing both his parents in recent attacks and still cannot trace his siblings. He and many of his peers were among the thousands who trekked to Maiduguri from Bama, a distance of 78 kilometers. Professor Hauwa Biu, the coordinator of BAOBAB, a non- governmental organization, recently mounted internet facility at the NYSC orientation camp in Maiduguri in order to attract the attention of well-meaning individuals from all over the world. She said the essence of that is to post the pictures, names, villages and towns of the countless orphans at the camp so that people could come and adopt them. “These children need care to grow and become useful to themselves and the society, so they need support and they need someone to cater for them. We want volunteers from all over the world to come and cater for them,” she said. Findings have shown that the Borno State Government had in the last three years spent over N20 billion in assisting, resettling and rebuilding houses of the IDPs across the state. The money was also deployed in rebuilding over 800 blocks of classrooms, hospitals, local government secretaries, markets and other public utilities. Sadly, most of such structures have been destroyed again and again by the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents, who have remained defiant. At present, many local government areas, including Gwoza, Gamboru Ngala, Bama, Marte, Dikwa and others have been taken over by the Boko Haram sect even as they have asserted their influence in many others like Kukawa, Abadam, Kala Balge, Askira Uba, Chibok, Damboa among others. The Borno Elders Forum (BEF) in a statement on Tuesday captured the mood of happenings, not only in Borno State but in the northeast. The statement was signed by its chairman, Ambassador Gaji Galtimari in which they called for urgent attention from the federal government in order to salvage the situation. “It has been five years of horror, death, destruction and misery for the people of North Eastern Nigeria, particularly Borno State. This horrific situation continues to grow in dimension by the day. Ever since July 2009 the Boko Haram insurgents did not only grow in size and numbers but seemed to have become better-equipped and trained, more sophisticated and the scope of their brutality has become overwhelming.” He added: “The growth and expansion of the Boko Haram did not just happen overnight. We have had severally cried to the Federal Government of the dangers ahead. Several entreaties were made but apparently the response by the Government was not only dismal but also frustrating.” Galtimari also said the insurgents have been kidnapping children including very young girls in their thousands and camping them in their hide-outs in the expansive Sambisa Forest and may be possibly indoctrinating them to be their fighting forces and also suicide bombers. “For now they have strategized and completely surrounded the city of Maiduguri – they have reached as far as Kayamla from the South of Maiduguri; Dikwa and Mafa from the East of Maiduguri and have destroyed almost all the Island settlements at Lake Chad and thecommercial fishing towns of Baga, Doro, Daban Shata, Kingarra, Duguri, DabanMasara etc. It is apparent that their imminent target is to take on the city of Maiduguri the Borno State Capital,” the elders said. Frightened and confused, the displaced fled to Maiduguri and are now at the NYSC camp which is no longer for the graduates of universities and polytechnics, no thanks to the protracted insurgency that has wiped out untold many in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states. Beside the NYSC camp, thousands of displaced people, who lost their homes and sources of livelihood, are now taking refuge at the Mai Musari Primary School along Bama; Yerwa Girls Secondary School, Sanda Kyarimi Secondary School, Goni Kachallari Primary School, Lake Chad Basin Commission and many other places. Alhaji Usman Jidda Shuwa, who was until recently, the Special Adviser to Governor Kashim Shettima on administration says apart from the people settled in various camps, his committee on resettlement of victims of Bama attacks had discovered 60 residential houses within Maiduguri where the IDPs have sought refuge. According to him, in each of these houses, there are between 50 and 200 people who are there with their relatives, friends and community leader’s resident in Maiduguri. Figures from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Red Cross, Borno State Government and other humanitarian agencies show that for now, there are nearly one million IDPs in Maiduguri alone, most of them fleeing residents from towns and villages. This was as a result of the complete takeover of many local government areas and the attendant mass destruction of houses, markets, public buildings, utilities, bridges and places of worship by the Boko Haram insurgents. Similar destruction had been recorded in Gujba and Gulani local government area of Yobe and in Madagali, Michika and Mubi in Adamawa State. Where is the Terror Victims Fund? However, most of the victims of the Boko Haram crisis are asking of the Terror Victims Funds generated by the Federal Government during a fund raiser at the Banquet Hall of the Aso Villa on 31st July, 2014. One of victims, Abba Kabir, who fled from Gamboru Ngala said, “It is now over 40 days since the Funds were raised but as far as we are concerned, there is nothing on ground to suggest that they are resettling anyone. Honestly speaking I have my doubts even before the money was raised because it is like the Federal Government was confusing everything. How can you start collecting money for rebuilding destroyed structures when the destruction is still persisting? I thought the President would be advised to seek ways of taming Boko Haram first before any other thing.” Babakura Njimo, another victim from Marte says unless something urgent was done, the Victims Fund will go to the pockets of some politicians. For the terror victims, over N58 billion was generated in one night in Abuja but it is not yet clear if the committee, headed by Retired General T.Y Danjuma, had redeemed the pledges. Some of the largest donors for the fund include: • Theophilus Danjuma, $10 million • Aliko Dangote, N1 billion • Jim Ovia, N1 billion
Posted on: Sat, 20 Sep 2014 02:32:48 +0000
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